The Respect for Marriage Act ensures that not only same-sex marriages but also interracial marriages are enshrined in federal law.

The Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion reminds all of us, that whatever rights we have in this society are conditional — they can be taken away, and the fact that Congress had to take up this issue in 2022 should be a stark reminder of that fact for us.

The Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the Senate last week, had been picking up steam since June when the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to an abortion. That ruling included a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas that suggested the high court should review other precedent-setting rulings, including the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

While much of the attention has been focused on protections for same-sex marriages, interracial couples are glad Congress also included protections for their marriages, even though their right to marry was well-established decades ago.

It’s a little unnerving that these things where we made such obvious progress are now being challenged or that we have to beef up the bulwark to keep them in place.

So many of those things that have just been taken for granted ... are under threat.

But why is Loving v. Virginia so significant? 

One day in the 1970s, Paul Fleisher and his wife were walking through a department store parking lot when they noticed a group of people looking at them. Fleisher, who is white, and his wife, who is Black, were used to “the look.” But this time it was more intense.

“There was this white family who was just staring at us, just staring holes in us,” Fleisher recalled.

That fraught moment occurred even though any legal uncertainty about the validity of interracial marriage had ended a decade earlier—in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws banning marriages between people of different races.

In more than half-century since interracial marriage has become more common and far more accepted. So Fleisher was surprised that Congress felt the need to include additional protection in the Respect for Marriage Act, which was given final approval in a House vote Thursday. It ensures that not only same-sex marriages but also interracial marriages are enshrined in federal law.

The 74-year-old Fleisher, a retired teacher and children’s book author, attended segregated public schools in the 1950s in the then-Jim Crow South and later saw what he called “token desegregation” in high school when four Black students were in his senior class of about 400 students.

He and his wife, Debra Sims Fleisher, 73, live outside Richmond, about 50 miles from Caroline County, where Mildred Jeter, a Black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were arrested and charged in 1958 with marrying out of state and returning to Virginia, where interracial marriage was illegal. Their challenge to the law led to Loving v. Virginia, the landmark ruling that ended bans against interracial marriages.

The Respect for Marriage Act ensures that not only same-sex marriages but also interracial marriages are enshrined in federal law.

The Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion reminds all of us, that whatever rights we have in this society are conditional — they can be taken away, and the fact that Congress had to take up this issue in 2022 should be a stark reminder of that fact for us.

The Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the Senate last week, had been picking up steam since June when the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to an abortion. That ruling included a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas that suggested the high court should review other precedent-setting rulings, including the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

While much of the attention has been focused on protections for same-sex marriages, interracial couples are glad Congress also included protections for their marriages, even though their right to marry was well-established decades ago.

It’s a little unnerving that these things where we made such obvious progress are now being challenged or that we have to beef up the bulwark to keep them in place.

So many of those things that have just been taken for granted ... are under threat.

But why is Loving v. Virginia so significant? 

One day in the 1970s, Paul Fleisher and his wife were walking through a department store parking lot when they noticed a group of people looking at them. Fleisher, who is white, and his wife, who is Black, were used to “the look.” But this time it was more intense.

“There was this white family who was just staring at us, just staring holes in us,” Fleisher recalled.

That fraught moment occurred even though any legal uncertainty about the validity of interracial marriage had ended a decade earlier—in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws banning marriages between people of different races.

In more than half-century since interracial marriage has become more common and far more accepted. So Fleisher was surprised that Congress felt the need to include additional protection in the Respect for Marriage Act, which was given final approval in a House vote Thursday. It ensures that not only same-sex marriages but also interracial marriages are enshrined in federal law.

The 74-year-old Fleisher, a retired teacher and children’s book author, attended segregated public schools in the 1950s in the then-Jim Crow South and later saw what he called “token desegregation” in high school when four Black students were in his senior class of about 400 students.

He and his wife, Debra Sims Fleisher, 73, live outside Richmond, about 50 miles from Caroline County, where Mildred Jeter, a Black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were arrested and charged in 1958 with marrying out of state and returning to Virginia, where interracial marriage was illegal. Their challenge to the law led to Loving v. Virginia, the landmark ruling that ended bans against interracial marriages.

The past year has further exposed the inequalities in American society. From the pandemic to affordable housing, access to education and the effects of climate change. Nowhere has the inequality gap grown more than exercising the right to vote. 

While January 6th culminated with a violent act to deny our legal and constitutional right to vote, the assault has persisted. To date, 19 state legislatures have passed laws that make it harder for students, people of color, low income and physically challenged Americans to vote. And there are no less than 163 congressional candidates who believe and campaign on the big lie that the election was stolen.

As we remember Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on what should have been his 93rd birthday, let us not only honor his legacy but uphold it … not fail it! As Americans of all races and creeds living abroad and stateside, our right to vote is not a forgone conclusion. 

The pace of voting rights for all citizens has been long and arduous. It has taken over a century for America to give all U.S. citizens the right to vote. Yes, 100 years. When Black men were given the right through the 15th amendment, restrictive state laws, poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather made it nearly impossible to vote. When women got the right to vote in 1920, it did not include minority women. From 1924 to 1962, Indigenous, Asian and Washington D.C. residents were enfranchised.

It was not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that enforced the 15th amendment at the federal level to become one of the most far-reaching and important civil rights legislation in U.S. history. 

This was the life’s work of Dr. King … his legacy. Dr. King gave his life for this. We stand on his and the shoulders of Hosea Williams and John Lewis. We must uphold the dream.

Since the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 18 year olds, non-English speaking citizens  and Americans abroad, had been given the right to vote in 1971, 1975 and 1976, respectively. And in 1982, the Reagan administration … the Reagan administration … extended it for 25 years.

Today, our voting rights lie in peril as states have, 100 years later, enacted laws that restrict all of our access to the ballot. How will we meet this moment? How will we honor Dr. King’s legacy? 

Why is this taking so long? If segregationists and trickle down theorists can protect voting rights, Senators Manchin and Sinema can support the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.

Rest in power, Dr. King. We honor you. We will not fail you.

Leedonal (Jazz) Moore, Chair 
Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus

Video Excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King's speech - I HAVE A DREAM

JOIN THE GLOBAL BLACK CAUCUS

SUPPORT THE GLOBAL BLACK CAUCUS

How We Remember And Honor Dr. King’s Legacy

The past year has further exposed the inequalities in American society. From the pandemic to affordable housing, access to education and the effects of climate change. Nowhere has the inequality gap grown more than exercising the right to vote. 

While January 6th culminated with a violent act to deny our legal and constitutional right to vote, the assault has persisted. To date, 19 state legislatures have passed laws that make it harder for students, people of color, low income and physically challenged Americans to vote. And there are no less than 163 congressional candidates who believe and campaign on the big lie that the election was stolen.

As we remember Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on what should have been his 93rd birthday, let us not only honor his legacy but uphold it … not fail it! As Americans of all races and creeds living abroad and stateside, our right to vote is not a forgone conclusion. 

The pace of voting rights for all citizens has been long and arduous. It has taken over a century for America to give all U.S. citizens the right to vote. Yes, 100 years. When Black men were given the right through the 15th amendment, restrictive state laws, poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather made it nearly impossible to vote. When women got the right to vote in 1920, it did not include minority women. From 1924 to 1962, Indigenous, Asian and Washington D.C. residents were enfranchised.

It was not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that enforced the 15th amendment at the federal level to become one of the most far-reaching and important civil rights legislation in U.S. history. 

This was the life’s work of Dr. King … his legacy. Dr. King gave his life for this. We stand on his and the shoulders of Hosea Williams and John Lewis. We must uphold the dream.

Since the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 18 year olds, non-English speaking citizens  and Americans abroad, had been given the right to vote in 1971, 1975 and 1976, respectively. And in 1982, the Reagan administration … the Reagan administration … extended it for 25 years.

Today, our voting rights lie in peril as states have, 100 years later, enacted laws that restrict all of our access to the ballot. How will we meet this moment? How will we honor Dr. King’s legacy? 

Why is this taking so long? If segregationists and trickle down theorists can protect voting rights, Senators Manchin and Sinema can support the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.

Rest in power, Dr. King. We honor you. We will not fail you.

Leedonal (Jazz) Moore, Chair 
Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus

Video Excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King's speech - I HAVE A DREAM

Our Voices Count Too
(for Angela Fobbs)

There are many who discredit
Those who follow the call
The fist raised in protest
The lament in the darkness

But even in the light of day
There should be a semblance
Of compassion for the needy
A deterrent to the greedy

Our blackness has a voice
Which was silenced too long
Threatened by the spineless
Desecrated by the narcissists

Our voices intone melodies
That can uplift nations
Inspire to transpose
Leave defamers dumbstruck

Our voices have built bridges
While soothing the fatigued
Our prescience gives America a grace
A reason to need feel honored

Should we now sit mutely by
When we realize that our voices joined
Hold an unfeigned promise
Which underscores much more
Than the rantings of the tyrannical?

Camille Elaine Thomas
August 30, 2021
Copyright@ All rights reserved

As he sat down, with a look of hunger in his
Eyes. As I searched, nothing not evens the lowest.
Sensing, a strange and different personality from
The others.

He glanced up with a gleam in his eyes. Within
Minutes, my face was on the dirty white paper.
Just as quickly as he came. He disappeared for
A long, long time.

Thinking, over the years. A talent, this homeless
And hungry person. Drifting, in a world too busy
To care. As my emotions rose to meet the thoughts.

As quickly as he disappeared, he returned. Looking
Deeply hurt in the eyes. My soul ripped with sorrow
And anger. For I, too was with little.

As I watch him sipping coffee. Knowing the
Thoughts of his mind as thought my own. The
World not known to his talents.

As I gave him my last. Thinking, his need more
Important than mine. As I walked away. Poured
Down the drain, into the sewer, into the sea.
Lost forever.

As the tears, began to seep into my eyes.
I must, I must.

Copyright © 1993 Paul S Hickman All Rights Reserved

Just because you smiled at me this morning on the bus
Doesn’t change the fact that so many others didn’t
Just because you claim that there are no races
Doesn’t mean that I don’t experience racism
Just because you have a few black acquaintances
Doesn’t mean that you can interpret my black culture
Just because you attended a Black Lives Matter protest
Doesn’t prove that you don’t harbor prejudices
Just because you believe black people need a chance
Doesn’t help them get one
Just because you appropriate black culture
Doesn’t make you unique
Just because you acknowledge white fragility
Doesn’t absolve you from suffering from it
Just because you claim to be a good Christian
Doesn’t make you of necessity spiritually evolved
So, just because you’re in my face boring me with whitesplain
Doesn’t mean that I have to get affronted
But what if I do?

Camille Elaine Thomas
August 18, 2021
Copyright@ All rights reserved